meanwhile a gorgeous and near flawless south swell has been slithering up the Australian east coast under moderate offshore winds. I wouldn't swap a single wave I've ridden in the past coupla days for anything in any wave pool I've seen.

Yes well, "attitudes to surf parks [have] changed significantly, even in one year, probably as a result of the opening of Surf Snowdonia and the video showing Kelly Slater’s new wave lagoon. Whereas in 2015, 78% of surfers said they would use a surf park, this figure had increased to 94% in the 2016 survey. Jess also referred to a specific surf study conducted by Barbiere & Sotomayor in 2014 that found that 40% of surfers had taken 10 or more surf trips in the past 5 years – highlighting the great tourism potential of surf parks that, unlike the ocean, can guarantee quality waves during the surf trip" so you're either behind the times, Nick, or deluded or both.

Will intermediates trade blue warm water, brown people serving you drinks and the tropical idyll of the Maldives for a surf park "experience"?

Foamingham says yes because the wave is better than the average shitt they surf back home.........I'm very unconvinced.

Post surf at the Ox the other day I was sitting on the rocks chatting with some crew, someone pulled out some very high grade marijuana tincture and we all got pretty sideways in the sunshine.
Chat turned to wavepools and I asked this chap, quite well connected, in fact manager to WSL world champs what he thought.

He said he had been to the one in Malaysia, pretty good wave by all accounts.
He said after 45 mins and the novelty had worn off he was bored shittless........he bought his hand around in a broad sweep to encompass the rocks, the sky, the lineup and said he'd rather the worst day here any day of the week.*

*He might have been a bit sideways and I was definitely sideways so maybe this recount is not note perfect but you get the gist.

Thats the only eyewitness report I've heard from someone not on the PR team.

I want Nightclub Dwight dead in his grave I want the nice-nice up in blazes

Nick, I agree that good real waves are so much better, mainly because of all the wonders of a natural ocean experience. As a retail product, as I always say, I doubt whether an affordable glassy wave can be served up every minute in a confined wave pool space. Residual turbulence is the problem.
In the unlikely event they got it to work, I agree with Steve that it would be enormously dull as a contest venue, but I think it would be good opportunity for an average punter, without local surf spot rights, to catch some nice waves, theoretically.
I have no idea what effect it would have on 'surfing'. Not as much as some fear, I reckon. Still, I think residual turbulence remains the spoiler. It would at best be an adjunct and would never be the real thing.

p.s. Steve, no one is ridiculously arguing it would be as good as Lennox. Should we all move there?

Turbulence, smurbulence. Legit though it is, what about the wind? Good waves and good surfs are so much better for the relative rarity of all factors aligning. When those things come together, it shall never be bettered. And then there's the adventure factor. Excepting perhaps the very first time, that's not available in a pool